Choice of woodchips or wilderness
By Michael Stevens - Thursday, 2 September 2004
A 'WOODCHIPS or Wilderness' forum in Orange tomorrow will
tap into local concerns about logging in Tasmanian forests,
according to Dr Johannes Bauer. Dr Bauer, who is based at
Orange's University of Sydney campus, will be one of three
speakers. "There is enough concern in Orange about
a wonderful natural resource that is being wasted to hold
the forum," he said. "Logging
of old growth forests in Tasmania is like cutting down a
cathedral to sell the stone."......
CENTRAL WESTERN DAILY... |
Logging Weld war
hits new heights
By DAMIAN McINTYRE, 2 September 2004
LOGGING protesters yesterday blocked access to the Weld
Valley in southern Tasmania to raise awareness of forestry
issues before the upcoming federal election. ....... Group
spokesperson Louise Morris said the aim was for federal
politicians to commit to saving areas such as the Weld Valley.
"The hope is to protect these
global treasures not only for Tasmanians, but for all Australians
and our international visitors, ...... Greens
Senator Bob Brown said the Federal Government should intervene.
"The Weld Valley should be nominated for inclusion
in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area," he
said. "Instead, it is being turned into a pile of woodchips
for export to Japan and China..........
HOBART
MERCURY...
Some [BIG] pictures of the area behind the
locked gates of forestry tasmania, both in the coupe that
people are locked onto and in areas earmarked for logging
in the future...
TASMEDIA.org
(long download for those with slow connections)
Conservationists slam forestry filming ban
Control over access used to restrict public awareness
and scrutiny of destruction of wilderness.
Conservationists are disturbed by a new development in the
forests debate in which Forestry
Tasmania is banning
filming of logging as a condition of access to publicly-owned
forests. The Huon Valley Environment Centre has
been forced to sign an agreement saying it will not allow
filming of any 'operations or current harvest coupes' in
the Weld Valley as a condition on obtaining a key to Forestry
Tasmania's padlocked gates. ....... However, conservationists
flew over the area on Thursday and obtained aerial footage
of the new logging, as well as of previously devastated
areas......
VOTEENVIRONMENT.com.au... |
| MORE OF THE
REST OF THE WORLD SEES TASMANIAN VANDALISM, GREED
& STUPIDITY AS BEING UNACCEPTABLE AND A BOYCOTT
OF TASMANIA IS INITIATED |
British MPs urge Howard to save
forests
By Stephanie Peatling, Environment Reporter - August
27, 2004
More than 100 British MPs
have signed a petition calling on the Australian Prime
Minister to intervene to stop the clear felling of
Tasmania's old growth forests. Co-ordinated
by a Liberal Democrat, Norman Baker, 104 MPs from
all parties have asked for protection of the Tarkine
and Styx Valley, which contain some of the oldest
trees on the planet. "Here in the UK we see Tasmania
as one of the world's most attractive places, in particular
for its wild and scenic places, enhanced by those
grand forests which are yet to be properly protected,"
the letter, which was sent to John Howard this month,
says. The MPs warned that
international visitors were less likely to visit Tasmania
after recent articles on the old growth forests in
newspapers such as The Observer and Le Monde.
"We draw your attention to the fact that tens
of thousands of British tourists annually spend tens
of millions of dollars in Tasmania, creating Tasmanian
jobs and contributing to the local economy,"
the letter says. Stories focusing on the use of 1080
poison to kill native animals in forestry coups were
putting this "important British contribution
to the Tasmanian economy at real risk", it said.
The Tasmanian Government yesterday published figures
showing that nearly 100,000 native animals died from
1080 poisoning in the 12 months to June last year.
Australian environmental groups have campaigned for
more than 20 years to have the state's old growth
forests protected by a new system of national parks.
SYDNEY
MORNING HERALD...
Brit MPs attack forestry
By MICHELLE PAINE - 27 August 2004
MORE than 100 British MPs have complained to the Australian
Prime Minister about Tasmanian forestry practices.
Australia should learn from mistakes in Britain and
ensure Tasmania was protected under the international
Convention on Biological Diversity, said the letter,
sent last week. The politicians
have said the 30,000 British tourists who visit Tasmania
each year should reconsider visiting. Liberal
Democrat Norman Baker first tabled a parliamentary
motion about Tasmanian forestry in March. Mr Baker's
letter, which includes the motion signed by 104 MPs,
includes: "I stress strongly that this is not
an attempt to suggest the UK has clean hands while
Australia does not. "Protecting rare species
is an obligation set out in the Convention on Biological
Diversity. Here in the UK, we see Tasmania as one
of the world's most attractive places." In
2003, UK tourists spent 413,000 nights in Tasmania.
The call was rejected by the Federal Government, with
Defence Minister Robert Hill telling the Senate the
Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement was sound and
complied with international treaties. Mr Baker's letter
says the use of 1080 against protected and endangered
species puts the tourism boost in Tasmania at risk.
It
also includes a transcript of an interview with John
Gay, executive chairman of forestry business Gunns,
on the Sunday program about protected species being
killed by 1080 poison. Mr Gay said: "Well,
there's too many of them and we need to keep them
at a reasonable level. The numbers are getting too
great and the ring-tailed possum is a very small proportion
of this. "It's usually the brush possums that
are poisoned, not ring-tails. I believe it is an acceptable
practice." This week, Environment Minister Judy
Jackson released figures showing twice as many native
animals had been poisoned by 1080 last year than the
year before.
HOBART
MERCURY...
British MPs support Tas anti-logging
campaign
27 August 2004
More than 100 British MPs have signed a letter to
Prime Minister John Howard calling on him to intervene
in Tasmania's forestry practices Liberal-Democrat
Norman Baker has tabled a motion which deplores what
he says is the current, large-scale deforestation
of native forest in Tasmania. The Tasmanian Early
Day Motion has been signed by 104 MPs from the Labour,
Conservative, Liberal-Democrat and minor parties.
One of them is the former British environment minister
Michael Meacher. The motion
says rare and ancient trees are being destroyed for
woodchips and native wildlife is being poisoned by
1080. Mr Baker says the Howard Government
is a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity
and, in light of its own Environment Protection and
Biodiversity Conservation Act, has a duty to protect
the trees and native wildlife. He
also says Britain is the largest overseas tourist
market for Tasmania and many Britons are reassessing
their intention to visit. Mr Baker has
also written to Labor leader Mark Latham for his views.
ABC
NEWS ONLINE...
British MP boycotts Tasmania over
logging practices
The World Today - Friday, 27 August , 2004
Reporter: Philip Williams
ELEANOR HALL: Australia is featuring in politics in
the UK this week too. The Environment spokesman for
the British Liberal Democrats, Norman Baker, has urged
tourists to think again before travelling to Tasmania.
He's gathered support from more than 100 fellow MPs
for a motion condemning the logging of old growth
forests and the use of poison for aerial baiting.
The British MP has been
telling Philip Williams in London that he won't set
foot in the island state until the destruction ends.
.........
NORMAN BAKER: Britons spent
413,000 nights in Tasmania in the year to date, up
to June 2003. That's more than any other overseas
country, and people over here are going to start worrying
whether or not they should be sustaining an economy
which seems to be so wantonly destructful of its own
environment........
ABC
- THE WORLD TODAY... |
| RELATED
STORIES - HELPING MASSACRE TASMANIAN
WILDLIFE, INVEST IN GUNNS Ltd - GUNNS
SHARES |
| •••••••• |
Toll of wildlife
shot to protect forests revealed - 21
June 2004
By NICK CLARK
FORESTRY companies have shot nearly 50,000 wallabies
and possums to protect forests and plantations
over the past two years, Department of Primary
Industries documents show. Shooters employed
by Gunns
Ltd and Forestry
Tasmania shot 15,225 brushtail possums and
30,226 Bennetts and red wallabies in the period
between January 2002 and April 30 this year.
The figures from the Nature Conservation Branch
were obtained by The Mercury under the Freedom
of Information Act. Sixteen fallow deer were
also shot during the same period. Eighty per
cent of the animals were shot on behalf of Gunns
Ltd on 250,000ha of forest and plantation
across the state. Most animals were killed with
shotguns and spotlight, with live trapping and
shooting also widespread. Wilderness Society
campaign co-ordinator Geoff Law said the figures
demonstrated one of the massive impacts of industrial
forestry. "This shows that a vast number
of animals, which are otherwise protected, are
being killed," he said. Mr
Law said the figures were a "reality check"
and an indication that probably more than 500,000
animals were killed by 1080. Increased
shooting has resulted because the State Government
wants 1080 usage reduced.........
HOBART
MERCURY...
Loaded Gunns: Forest giant's
record profit
By NICK CLARK 27 August 2004
TASMANIAN forestry giant Gunns
Ltd yesterday unveiled a massive $105 million
profit. The result was a 42 per cent increase
on last year and earns executive chairman John
Gay a $1.3 million dividend windfall. ......
Gunns
Ltd exports about five million tonnes of
woodchips to Asia annually. Asian exports were
worth $427 million this year........
HOBART
MERCURY...
AND IF YOU FEEL LIKE BOYCOTTING
TASMANIAN TOURISM BUSINESSES THAT ENDORSE THE
VANDALISM.....
• SEE
MORE ON THE RECALCITRANT TOURISM COUNCIL OF
TASMANIA AT FAIR-TRADING.com... |
|
|
Feds blast State's forestry failures
By CHRIS JOHNSON , Tuesday, 24 August 2004
The Federal Government has serious concerns about some aspects
of the Tasmanian forestry industry and has condemned the
State Government for failing to meet commitments to the
Regional Forest Agreement. ........ Of major concern to
the Commonwealth is the State's failure to meet its obligations
under the RFA to retain agreed levels of native vegetation
on private land as well as its lack of implementing recovery
plans for endangered species. ........ The Federal Government
was not able to accept the State's recommendations regarding
threatened species listing and called for Tasmania to "expedite
recovery actions to meet legislative requirements".
But the Commonwealth was most critical of the State's approach
to permanent forest estates. ........ The Commonwealth would
not agree to a recommendation that the status of threatened
forest communities remain unchanged as they continued to
be cleared. "This could be interpreted to mean a vulnerable
community can be cleared to a point just before it crosses
the threshold to endangered status," the report said.
"This outcome would be unacceptable.".........
THE
LAUNCESTON EXAMINER...
• TASMANIA
IS AN EMBARRASSMENT TO THE REST OF AUSTRALIA (below) |
| POTENTIAL WORLD
HERITAGE AREA LOGGED BY STEALTH |
Picnic prompts forestry censorship
row
22 August 2004
Environmentalists and Forestry
Tasmania are at loggerheads again,
this time over claims Forestry is trying to censor
pictures or film of its logging operations in the
Weld Valley. Adam Burling from the Huon
Valley Environment Centre has organised a picnic
and open day in the Weld Valley today.
He claims group members were only allowed access
behind Forestry
Tasmania gates, if they agreed not to film any
logging operations or current harvest coupes. Mr Burling
says it is a bullying tactic by Forestry
Tasmania to ensure people cannot see what is going
on behind locked gates. "Forestry
Tasmania is pushing into new areas,
into wilderness, quality forests that have been recognised
for their world heritage values," he said. "Now
we've been told that no filming is to be take place
so we feel like we've been gagged." Geoff Law,
from the Wilderness Society, says Forestry
Tasmania's decision to ban environmentalists
from filming in the Weld Valley marks an escalation
in the forestry debate. "This is certainly more
of big brother wanting to control what people do on
public land, and ensure that there isn't filming and
ensure public scrutiny is drastically reduced,"
he said.........
ABC
NEW ONLINE...
Forestry Tasmania accused of new logging
trials
23 August 2004
Environmentalists are angry over what they say are
selective logging trials by Forestry
Tasmania in the Weld Valley. The Huon
Valley Environment Centre yesterday hosted an
open day in the region, but was told by Forestry
it could not film any logging operations
or coupes being harvested. The
centre's Adam Burling says it now appears the reason
for the ban is because selective logging trials are
underway. Mr Burling says it involved strip clear
felling in an environmentally sensitive area. "I
think that it would inflame environmentalists that
they've conducted such an operation in a sensitive
area such as the Weld Valley, in an area that's been
documented for its world heritage values, in an area
that's been put up for a reserve,"
he said.......
ABC
NEWS ONLINE... |
|
| TASMANIA
IS AN EMBARRASSMENT TO THE REST OF AUSTRALIA, AS MANY
IN BIG BUSINESS SEE TASMANIAN FOREST PRACTICES AS
SULLYING THE AUSTRALIAN REPUTATION AND DRIVING TOURISTS
AWAY |
Tourism Industry and Environmentalists
Join Forces to Save Australia's Forests, Reef and
National Parks
Australian Conservation Foundation [ACF] and TTF Australia
(Tourism & Transport Forum) today signed a joint
protocol and called for full protection for Tasmania's
old growth forests, the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree
Rainforest, because of their paramount importance
to tourism and the environment......
ACF
MEDIA RELEASE...
Unlikely allies see worth of untouched old forests
By Brigid Delaney - August 20, 2004
Bill Heffernan and Peter Garrett are unlikely bedfellows,
but the Liberal senator and Labor's rock star recruit
agree about saving Tasmania's old-growth forests.
Both were hailed as champions of the cause at the
launch yesterday of a campaign highlighting the link
between environmental issues and tourism in areas
such as the forests, the Great Barrier Reef and the
Daintree National Park. The project has spawned an
alliance between the Australian
Conservation Foundation and the the Tourism and
Transport Forum, who say
logging in Tasmania's old-growth forests is sullying
Australia's reputation and driving tourists away.......
SYDNEY
MORNING HERALD...
Tourism bid to protect old forests
By MARIA RAE , Friday, 20 August 2004
A peak national tourism body
has called for the protection of Tasmania's old-growth
forests in the interests of national tourism,
in a joint protocol with the Australian
Conservation Foundation. The move has raised concerns
with the State Government, Tourism
Council of Tasmania and the forestry industry,
who said they were not consulted on the matter. The
Tourism and Transport Forum represents 200 members,
including Qantas, Commonwealth Bank, Hilton Hotels
and has had an association with Tourism Tasmania.
TTF managing director Christopher Brown said both
organisations saw the protection of Tasmania's old-growth
forests as vital to tourism and environment. "This
can no longer be considered an exclusively Tasmanian
issue and it demands action by the Federal Government
and national tourism industry to forge a compromise
solution," Mr Brown said. "There are 14,649
tourism jobs in Tasmania compared to a maximum of
1500 jobs in old-growth logging."..........
THE
LAUNCESTON EXAMINER...
Environmentalists, tourism operators
seek forests protection
Thursday, August 19, 2004
The Australian
Conservation Foundation (ACF) and the Tourism
and Transport Forum Australia (TTF) have signed a
joint protocol calling for the full protection of
Tasmania's old-growth forests. The two organisations
say that there are almost 15,000 Tasmanian tourism
jobs, compared to a maximum of 1,500 jobs in old-growth
logging. They say that with a Federal Government investment
of $250 million over five years, old-growth and high
conservation value forest could be protected while
creating about 1,200 new jobs. The
TTF comprises chief executives from 200 organisations,
including Jetstar, Qantas, Virgin Blue and the Commonwealth
Bank and National Australia Bank. Tourism Tasmania
is also one of the forum's sponsors. The
managing director of the TTF, Christopher Brown, says
the protocol is the first between Australia's tourism
industry and environmentalists. "Tasmanian
forests are one of the great tourism and natural icons
of Australia,' he said. "There're one of the
great selling points of our nation, all around the
world and we're very, very proud of our Tasmanian
tourism product. "We want to see an end to Tasmania
being targeted around the world by some of the more
radical green groups and we want to see a continued
growth of the magnificent tourism industry."
ABC
NEWS ONLINE...
AND IF YOU FEEL LIKE BOYCOTTING
TASMANIAN TOURISM BUSINESSES THAT ENDORSE THE VANDALISM.....
• SEE
MORE ON THE RECALCITRANT TOURISM COUNCIL OF TASMANIA
AT FAIR-TRADING.com... |
|
|
Save The Styx Valley
By ENVIROTALK
A 2mb movie file that takes a while to download, but it's
worth the wait.
Produced and directed by Richard Denvir and Vanessa Tyrer.
Photography by Vanessa Tyrer
"Easily Broken" Written and performed by Sophie
Koh (ABC Music Publishing) www.sophiekoh.com
MOVIE
FILE...
THE
STYX VALLEY CAMPAIGN PAGE...
|
| A
TASMANIAN GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT (DPIWE)
IS EXPOSED FOR TYPICALLY WHITEWASHING A PUBLIC HEALTH
WATER POISONING ISSUE THAT CONTINUES TO EXPOSE RESIDENTS
OF TASMANIA, ITS VISITORS & TOURISTS AND ITS WILDLIFE,
TO AN UNACCEPTABLE RISK FACTOR FOR THE SAKE OF THE
FOREST VANDALS |
Stop the spraying
By Dr ALISON BLEANEY, St HELENS MARINE FARMERS,
Dr MARCUS SCAMMELL
Response to DPIWE
Review-(PDF) of the SCAMMELL
REPORT
This response has been prepared to address criticism
of the report called "Review of the Scammell
Report" prepared by the Department of Primary
Industries, Water and Environment (DPIWE).
The authors of the "SCAMMELL
REPORT" believe that a number of the criticisms
are unfounded and some of
the facts have been misrepresented or misinterpreted.
The following lists a number of comments in the review,
the available evidence relating to these comments
and any conclusions or questions that follow......
STOP
THE SPRAYING - THE RESPONSE TO THE DPIWE REVIEW...
============
• THE
JULY 2004, NEWS TASMANIA REPORTS OF THE POISONED DRINKING
WATER... |
|
|
|
|
5 year investment
to protect forests and grow jobs in Tasmania
11 August 2004
Leading conservation groups have today released a comprehensive
package of proposals representing a lasting solution to
the intractable forests problem in Tasmania. The package,
Protecting Forests; Growing Jobs, prepared
by The
Wilderness Society and the Australian
Conservation Foundation, would enable the protection
of old growth and high conservation value forests currently
threatened by logging, and grow employment levels in the
timber and tourism sectors, ensuring that no jobs are lost
to the state......
THE
WILDERNESS SOCIETY...
• DOWNLOAD
THE REPORT
Forest peace strategy: Green coalition offers
$250 million plan to resolve logging battle
By DANNY ROSE
12 August 2004
A COALITION of green lobby groups has released a $250 million
plan it says could halt Tasmania's old-growth logging within
five years without axing jobs......
HOBART
MERCURY...
Tas forests and jobs 'can both be saved'
Conservation groups have launched a new plan which they
say will protect Tasmania's forests and create more than
1,000 jobs in the timber industry. They are calling for
$250 million over five years from the Federal Government
to encourage private investment and help re-skill or re-employ
more than 300 workers who will be affected by the plan.
The aim is to protect 240,000 hectares of Tasmanian forest
which is slated for logging. The Australian Conservation
Foundation's executive director, Don Henry, says the plan
shows that protecting forests does not have to result in
job losses. "If we do not act now, we are going to
continue to see the destruction and loss of great, grand
old-growth forests, plus the loss of jobs," he said.
"Doing nothing should not be an option for the Federal
Government and it should not be an option for the Tasmanian
Government."
ABC
NEWS ONLINE...
Tasmania's forest warriors target jobs
By SID MAHER - August 14, 2004
.......The blueprint, backed by 16 environmental groups,
seeks $250 million from the federal Government over five
years. It maps a plan to create jobs through road-building,
tourism, retooling sawmills and increasing value-adding
to plantation timber. Tasmania's logging furore centres
on the Styx Valley, the Tarkine, the Great Western Tiers,
the Northeast Highlands, the Eastern Tiers, the Tasman Peninsula
and the Leven Valley. Environmentalists argue the Styx Valley
contains some of the tallest flowering plants on earth and
the Tarkine wilderness in the northwest of the state contains
Australia's largest tract of temperate rainforest. ......
In Tasmania, their campaign has been further clouded by
a World Wide Fund for Nature report that backed logging
in some of the state's old-growth forests and split the
movement. The split in the environmental community mirrors
a similar split in the wider community. "There are
incredibly passionate views," says Craig Woodfield
of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust. He fears "someone
is going to end up getting killed"..........
THE
WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN... |
|
|
| WHILE
FAILURES GET RICH THE DEVILS DIE IN AGONY |
Tasmanian devils in
steep decline
2 August 2004
Preliminary trials of new camera sensor technology
to monitor the populations of Australia's Tasmanian
devils, have found numbers of the unique mammals are
rapidly decreasing in some areas. At a trial in Bronte
Park, in Tasmania's Central Highlands, cameras and
sensors were set up to capture devil movement in the
area. The photographs revealed nearly half the devil
population was suffering facial tumour disease. The
project's scientific officer, Jason Wiersma, says
the trappings showed a 90 per cent reduction in the
devil population. He said: "With about 50 traps
before we were catching up to 25 animals a day. Whereas
this last trip we were catching about 5 animals with
100 traps." Wildlife officers say they need to
determine if other devil populations have been as
badly affected.
ABC
RADIO...
ABC
NEWS ONLINE... (with picture)
|
|
Digital watch on devils
as disease threatens wipe-out
By Andrew Darby in Hobart - August 3, 2004
......Up to 15 camera units capturing digital still
images are to be sent out to monitor devils in the
wild. Using a scent trail, and triggered by infrared
sensors, the $750 units can store up to 700 images
and be left for 10 days at a time. The system may
prove more efficient than laborious traps, which must
be disinfected after each use in order to prevent
any inadvertent spread of the disease. The cause of
the disease remains elusive. Investigators at the
state's animal laboratory said earlier this year it
appeared to be a single type of cancer, but the cell
type was hard to identify, and a viral cause had not
been ruled out. A recent report [Scammell
Report] into the cause of a shellfish kill at
Georges Bay in the state's north-east suggested herbicidal
sprays used in plantation forestry were also a possible
cause of the disease......
SYDNEY
MORNING HERALD... |
|
| IS THE WWF
TRYING TO SELL OUT TASMANIA AND ITS WILDLIFE? |
|
Fellow activists hit at green forest
proposal
By MICHAEL LOWE, Monday 2 August 2004
Tasmanian conservation groups yesterday united in
rejecting a forest proposal put forward by the World
Wide Fund for Nature [formerly known as World
Wildlife Fund]. Thirteen Tasmanian groups
have released a joint statement rejecting the proposals
by the WWF
in its Blueprint
For The Forest Industry And Vegetation Management
In Tasmania. Speaking in Launceston along with
leaders from other conservation groups, Geoff Law,
of The Wilderness Society, said that if the blueprint
were adopted it would go against 25 years of work
to protect Tasmania's old- growth forests and biodiversity.
"It's a recipe for ongoing destruction of Tasmania's
old- growth areas, wilderness and areas of value
to the community," he said. "Our concern
is that it is a group from interstate, it has ignored
our concerns and is proceeding to negotiate with
the logging industry and the Government." Mr
Law said the WWF
did not have a Tasmanian office and had little knowledge
of the State. It did not consult with local groups
and was "setting the bar too low" when
it came to environmental goals. The joint statement
also said the blueprint ignored threatened World
Heritage values, other than the area in the North-West
known as the Tarkine. ...... Other groups which
spoke against the WWF blueprint in Launceston were
the Reedy Marsh Forest Conservation Group, Friends
of the Blue Tier, the
Tarkine National Coalition, the Tasmanian National
Parks Association, the Huon Valley Environment Centre
and Doctors
For Forests.......
THE
LAUNCESTON EXAMINER...
• MAKE
COMMENT ON THE WWF BLUEPRINT HERE...
============
Panda suitors ... the World Wildlife
Fund blueprint
By NEIL CREMASCO
......WWF, like Labor, has stomped on the wishes
of Tasmanians who, during the Tasmania Together
process, called for these areas to be protected,
and to end clearfelling in areas of high conservation
old growth forests by January 1st, 2003. .......
the WWF document doesn’t
even mention the practice of exterminating native
wildlife with 1080 poison to prop up the forest
industry, let alone criticise it! And as for industrial
forestry pesticide and herbicide sprays in drinking
water supplies, the blueprint is utterly silent.......
TASMANIAN
TIMES CONTRIBUTOR...
============
WWF accused of pandering to Government
August 3, 2004
A left-wing think tank, the Australia
Institute, says the World Wildlife Fund for
Nature's (WWF)
blueprint on Tasmania's forests is the product of
an "unhealthy" relationship with the Federal
Government. ....... Australia Institute executive
director Clive Hamilton says the WWF
is being used by the Federal Government to endorse
unpopular policies. "Many observers of the
forest debate have suggested that the WWF report
could have been written by the forest industries,
such is the language, analysis and recommendations
they put forward," he said.......
ABC
NEWS ONLINE...
• TAMING
THE PANDA: The relationship between WWF Australia
and the Howard Government - PDF
============
Out on a limb
August 7, 2004
A conservation group's
blueprint for the future of Tasmania's forests has
been denounced by environmentalists,
writes Stephanie Peatling. .........it does not
recommend the Styx Valley - containing the tallest
trees in the world - for protection. ........ "The
most galling thing is that we spent six months blockading
the Styx forest and we won over tens of thousands
of people around the world to that cause, but through
the lens of this blueprint it isn't worth saving,"
Kennedy says........
SYDNEY
MORNING HERALD...
============
The panda that's not wild enough
July 28, 2004
....But questions are being
raised about the panda's place in Australia and
the extent to which it is being used by the Federal
Government to bolster its own environmental performance.
The
Australia Institute will today release a controversial
report examining WWF
Australia and whether the rise in Government
funding it has experienced since 1996 has affected
its ability to offer full and frank commentary on
Government policy. The report's authors, Clive Hamilton
and Andrew Macintosh, conclude that "there
are strong grounds for questioning whether WWF
Australia can legitimately continue to describe
itself as independent". Although there is no
suggestion of any direct cash-for-comment deal,
there is evidence, publicly backed by other environment
organisations, that WWF
is being used by the Federal Government to bolster
its green credentials. "There is a strong tendency
for organisations that become too dependent on the
government (or, indeed, on corporations) to begin
to see the world through the eyes of their benefactors,"
Hamilton and Macintosh write. "When that occurs,
organisations lose their capacity to make dispassionate
assessments of what is in the interests of the environment
and thereby betray their
purpose and their supporters. ........
" Government donations
to WWF
Australia have increased by almost 500 per cent
since the Howard Government took office in 1996.
In the last financial year of the Keating government
- 1995-96 - the group received just $740,000. Six
years later, that figure had jumped to about $3.7
million. ....... The situation for the
Wilderness Society is bleaker, with the group behind
the Franklin River campaign receiving just $367,000
from Government coffers between 1994 and 2003. Grants
of more than $58,000 from 1994 to 1997 have dwindled
to $13,500 each year since 2001......
SYDNEY
MORNING HERALD...
• TAMING
THE PANDA: The relationship between WWF Australia
and the Howard Government - PDF
• MAKE
COMMENT ON THE WWF BLUEPRINT HERE...
|
|
1080 blamed for deaths
1 August 2004
FORESTRY and farm pesticide 1080 is killing forester kangaroos,
says a group of concerned scientists and wildlife experts.
The poison 1080 is used to kill native animals which browse
on forestry seedlings, farm pasture and crops. 1080 is used
to target wallabies and possums. But non-target native species,
including forester kangaroos, bettongs, potoroos, wombats,
swamp rats and long-tailed mice, are also killed. "The
widespread use of 1080 poison in the state of Tasmania is
of particular concern with evidence the forester kangaroo
is susceptible to 1080 when applied as a carrot bait,"
former Mt William National Park ranger Steve Cronin said......
SUNDAY
TASMANIAN...
Forester roos' leap backward
By SIMON BEVILACQUA
August 1, 2004
TASMANIA's largest marsupial has lost more than 80 per cent
of its home range since Europeans arrived on the island.
Shooting, hunting dogs, farmers, poison and land clearance
have savaged forester kangaroo populations......
NEWS.COM.AU... |
Knives out for premier - and his mates
are angry
July 31, 2004
........"Absolutely anyone who's read the article can
see it's not a personal attack, but a judgement on a public
man's life," Flanagan said. Instead he saw Lennon's
response as another attempt to silence him. "This
is a government of thuggery and intimidation, and it seeks
to crush any dissenting opinion. "I think
it's very hard for mainlanders to understand how oppressive
it can be. It's a situation not unlike WA Inc, where there
is an appearance of prosperity, and government colludes
with business, but underneath it is corrupting and rotten."
Evidence emerged that Flanagan was not alone. Marine biologist
Karen Edyvane may have recently won national attention for
ringing an alarm bell on kelp forest decline, but she has
no job with the State Government any more. Dr Edyvane said
Fisheries in Tasmania "is dominated by the industry,
worth a lot of money in political donations, and has a culture
of secrecy". She wrote in support of Flanagan. "Freedom
of speech is indeed a scarce resource in Tasmania. Dare
to question and suffer the consequences. Be prepared to
be blacklisted, vilified and/or unemployed."
In the Bacon years, businessman Gerard Castles was a government-sanctioned
community leader consulting on the state's direction. He
fell foul of Bacon for wanting an end to old-growth logging.
He said Bacon presided over a
sick political process, where many were bullied and marginalised,
and Lennon was continuing this approach.........
SYDNEY
MORNING HERALD...
• THE
FLANAGAN - MELBOURNE AGE ARTICLE "The selling-out of
Tasmania"... |
| MORE THUGGERY,
BY A FOREST VANDAL - A WARNING TO TOURISTS |
|
Scuffle over logging film has court
sequel
July 28, 2004
A TASMANIAN filmmaker fears his career has been
put at risk by injuries he suffered when he was
attacked by a log-truck
driver he was filming. Brian Dimmick
said yesterday he was left needing spinal surgery
and was physically incapable of carrying heavy camera
equipment. "I was assaulted by this guy who
attacked me, smashed my camera and caused me an
injury that now threatens my career," Mr Dimmick
said. Yesterday in the Hobart Magistrates Court
log-truck driver Gary John Coad pleaded guilty to
common assault and injuring property. The 59-year-old,
of Huon Highway, Huonville, admitted he pushed Mr
Dimmick in the chest and neck and knocked over his
$7000 video camera and tripod. ...... Mr Dimmick
had been filming log trucks travelling along the
Huon Highway for a documentary about logging......
NEWS.COM.AU...
• MORE
LOG TRUCK ACCIDENT NEWS & STORIES...
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